LOS AGNELES.–U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 71, speaking for the White House, rejected 71-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin’s truce overture, saying that Putin was in no position to dictate terms of any peace. “He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about peace,” Austin said, knowing that Putin is the first party in a two-party conflict. Any ceasefire and peace talks would involve both Ukraine and Russia, something that comes as no surprise to Austin. Putin, like Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, has his demands for a ceasefire and peace talks, whether or not he strongly disagrees with Putin’s terms. Putin certainly doesn’t accept Zelensky’s terms that involve prosecuting him for war crimes in The Hague’s International Criminal Court [ICC]. What does Austin think any peace talks involve, other that the combatants negotiating a settlement?
Austin mirrors the views of his boss, 81-year-old President Joe Biden, that insists from first day of the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion that it was “unprovoked” and “unjustified,” according to U.S. officials. But Putin had tried to engage Biden in security talks about Ukraine for months before the invasion. Putin said that if the U.S. continued to arm Ukraine he would have to employ a “special military operation” to “demilitarize” and “de-Nazify” the Kiev government. “He’s had some hundreds of thousands of troop wounded and killed in this unjust and unprovoked invasion. He could end this today, if he chose to do that. And we call upon him to do that and to leave Ukrainian sovereign territory,” Austin said, throwing gasoline on the fire. Austin shows that the Biden White House has no intent in any peace talks of negotiating for ceasefire and peace talks.
Meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland this weekend, some 156 countries, excluding Russia, expect to hash out ceasefire and peace talk possibilities. Putin said “the future existence of Ukraine” depended on withdrawing forces and adopting a neutral status, refusing NATO membership. U.S. officials intend to seek support for the U.S. and Ukrainian position that Russian must pull out of all Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula. Putin annexed Crimea March 1, 2024 when a CIA-backed coup toppled the pro-Kremlin government of Viktor Yanukovych. Putin annexed Crimea when Biden was Vice President to former President Barack Obama. Obama’s policy after Putin annexed Crimea was to supply Ukraine with weapons to repel the Russian invasion. So far, there’s nothing Ukraine has done to drive Putin out of the Crimean Peninsula or Donbas region.
Putin annexed the Crimean Peninsula once Yanukovych was driven from Kiev, threatening Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. Zelensky wants to get international support in Lucerne but knows that China and India back Putin’s mission to stop U.S. arms from flooding Ukraine. Putin has said consistently that if Ukraine were to join NATO it would come with a fight. Zelensky has asked NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to fast-track NATO membership, something that hasn’t happened. NATO members would have to agree unanimously to Ukraine joining the alliance while it’s at war with Russia. If Ukraine joined NATO, it would trigger Article 5 forcing all NATO countries into a mutual defense pact to go to war against the Kremlin. No one in NATO wants to commit troops to Ukraine and join a war against the Russian Federation.
Austin equivocated when asked about Ukraine’s future place in the NATO Alliance. “In terms of NATO expansion, I think that’s a decision that 32 members of [the] NATO alliance will make at some point in time. I don’t see any desire or indication that we will pursue expansion at any point in the near future,” Austin said, sending a message to Putin and Zelensky that Ukraine’s NATO membership is not in the cards. Austin knows that NATO is already assimilating recent memberships by Sweden and Finland. Biden overplayed his hand on Ukraine, knowing there’s no real stomach for war with the Kremlin in the NATO Alliance. When it comes to this weekend’s peace talks in Lucerne, all participants should evaluate carefully Putin’s recent truce overtures, if for no other reason in the European Union’s best interest to avoid war on the European Continent.
Zelensky keeps pushing for more war with the Kremlin, knowing that anything could happen by prolonging the war. One mistake, one mishap, one unforeseen incident could trigger a wider war on the European Continent. Zelensky doen’t seem the least concerned about starting WW III or nuclear war in Europe. He wants more cash-and-weapons to fight Russian occupation at the expense of starting WW III, something he thinks he’s already fighting in Ukraine. Confiscating frozen Russian assets in the U.S. or EU increases the chances that the Ukraine War could jump current borders and spread to other parts of Europe. Participants in the Lucerne peace summit should take seriously the Chinese Foreign Ministry that asks the U.S. and NATO to stop provoking Russia into a wider conflict. China offered a credible peace plan that was roundly rejected by Washington and Kiev.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
